Picked up Castellan Creed and the Colour Sergeant off eBay about a month ago from Midgard Models and received them today. I will upload photos as soon as I get my camera charged (later tonight) but have to say I am disgusted by the level of product quality.
The models in question are imitations, made by press-mould, and are sold as “pro-painted” and as actual games-workshop miniatures. Also, the company had 99.6% positive feedback (now 99.5%) so I thought “why not?”
The models are, I kid you not, 2mm deep, and this is the church-hill look-alike we’re talking about. The Colour Sergeant doesn’t even have the back of his head. I really don’t understand how people can get away with this and have such high feedback :mad
I’ll upload photos soon - the camera’s on charge, but I just thought I’d warn you in case you plan on buying any “genuine” miniatures from them anytime soon :~
wow… a couple of years ago, I ordered a pro-painted Orion off midgard, and was very satisfied… it actually was pro-painted and the model was in great shape, i wouldnt have noticed any flaw or evidence of re-cast, thats why I gave my full points… but what they pulled off here is absolutely shameless, sorry for you and really interested in seeing your pictures!
Apologies for the quality of the photos - I really need to find my better camera. I hope it still shows the depth of the figures though. If it doesn’t I’l take some more.
Thats pretty awful. I would definately report it to GW. I assume this is the auction:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400223228309
Pyro Stick
Yup, that was the auction :(
I bought it on my phone so I couldn't see the pictures too well but it doesn't say anywhere it's a copy (it even has all the copyright information at the bottom of the auction) How would I go about reporting it to GW? The only email I have over here takes about a week to get a reply and I'd like to use emails so I have a "paper trail"
I'm aiming to get my money back through paypal but feeling seriously gipped right now :mad
I’ve bought stuff from Migard in the past that I was happy with. I notice their store has no more stuff? Possibly due to the legal ish?
Anyway, the staff they call ‘pro’ and master painted is often so far off it’s funny… however possibly my best figure (mortarion conversion) is from there and is genuinely master painted. Very hit and miss they are I think. Sucks about your situation though. Hope you get your refund!
If you paid via Paypal, I would put a dispute through Paypal. I would use the argument of “Item received is not what was described on Auction”. Good luck with it. Paypal is pretty good with this sort of stuff.
We are encountering people who counterfeit our miniatures and products more and more frequently. Counterfeiting is a crime in most countries worldwide. In addition to the other penalties, you can go to prison for counterfeiting. The same is true of peer-to-peer file sharing - if you have not paid for the material and you download it using peer-to-peer software, you are engaging in illegal activity. The same is true even if you already own a copy of the relevant Codex or Army Book. Please remember that Games Workshop does not produce its rule books or codices in electronic format - if you ever see any such material in electronic format, it is likely to be the product of criminal or infringing activity.
BE AWARE that we will happily spend money bringing counterfeiters and other infringers to justice, regardless of the cost. Such activities kill the hobby for everyone.
By way of background to this position, Games Workshop is the world’s largest wargames and miniatures manufacturer. This has not come about overnight but rather as a result of over 20 years of hard work and the investment of considerable amounts of money into designing the best, most evocative, and detailed games and miniatures that we possibly can.
In a free market, anyone willing to invest the necessary time and effort is entitled to the same opportunities we had when we started out. We welcome such fair ‘competition’ - in fact, we don’t even think of it as competition because it all helps to build the hobby.
However, sadly, there are an unscrupulous few who try to take a shortcut to success by copying the design of our games and models and trading on the goodwill we’ve built up over the years - these people are counterfeiters.
We therefore want to make it clear that Games Workshop will not tolerate counterfeiting of its products nor any other unauthorized use of its trade marks, trade dress, copyright material, or other intellectual property and always seeks the maximum civil and criminal penalties that the law allows.
What to do if you are the victim of counterfeiters
Sadly, the people that suffer most from counterfeiters are you guys - after all who wants to pay for a badly-cast fake?
What we suggest is that if you encounter a counterfeiter, get as much information as you can before you contact us: where you saw them, who was selling them, where they are being made, etc. If you can, buy a representative sample and GET A RECEIPT. If the products are indeed counterfeit, we will reimburse you for any postage costs and will try to replace any counterfeit with the genuine article (please be aware that this may not always be possible). E-mail or write to us with any information at:
I’d make a “copy” of the auction, screenshot of all parts (in case it disappears), and then email the link to the auction and your pictures to GW Legal stating that you’ve bought the figures from said auction and that they are bad fakes. Sicne ti went through eBay and Paypal you should have “receipts” of a sort. At least there’s an electronic record. There might not be much either you or GW can do (but I suspect GW will try) but at least there’s a chance you’ll get a genuine replacement.
Cheers for the help everyone - I’ve opened a paypal case, left negative feedback, and contacted the legal department at Games Workshop about this incident, as well as forwarding the pictures to them. I hope I can get a genuine replacement, one way or another. I’ll let you know how it goes.
Well, I got a prompt email reply, whereby I have been told by their solicitor to send the miniatures to them where they will remove the paint to test them. I was also told that I can send a letter of confirmation of counterfeit to paypal signed by GWs solicitors that paypal should accept.
Wow, this side of the GW system works even faster than their sales it would seem Here’s hoping with all of this concern on the part of GW that your backside will be adequately covered. While GW may not be able to get you the models you want, it sounds like they’ll help you out with Paypal in getting your money back. Disappointing that the seller at best didn’t realize this, which is possible, or at worst really did sell horribly made casts and passed them off as the real article.
Well, I got a prompt email reply, whereby I have been told by their solicitor to send the miniatures to them where they will remove the paint to test them. I was also told that I can send a letter of confirmation of counterfeit to paypal signed by GWs solicitors that paypal should accept.
:cheers
Necrotique
I sorta figured they'd be on it. When it comes to shutting stuff like this down their are on the ball quick. The lawyers aren't that swamped with work and this is an easy win for them. I remembered reading the legal page and you really get the impression they were earnestly concerned about this. Seeing how they are loosing money out of it, obviously they'd be.
And the lawyers got keep themselves occupied between sending out frivolous C&D letters after all. Yea, I'm something of a cynic.
I won a auction from eBay just like this a few years back too. I’d have to say as your usual GW hater that you probably think I am. I was impressed to find that they were very quick and prompt with not only my replacement lord of the rings Eoryn models but for passing the information to GW I recived a full set of lotro mounted and un mounted ringwraiths for reporting a single model.
Here’s hoping with all of this concern on the part of GW that your backside will be adequately covered. While GW may not be able to get you the models you want, it sounds like they’ll help you out with Paypal in getting your money back. Disappointing that the seller at best didn’t realize this, which is possible, or at worst really did sell horribly made casts and passed them off as the real article.